editorNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Yuki Noguchi is a correspondent on the Business Desk based out of NPR's headquarters in Washington D.C. Since joining NPR in 2008, she's covered business and economic news, and has a special interest in workplace issues — everything from abusive working environments, to the idiosyncratic cubicle culture. In recent years she has covered the housing market meltdown, unemployment during the Great Recession, and covered the aftermath of the tsunami in Japan in 2011. As in her personal life, however, her coverage interests are wide-ranging, and have included things like entomophagy and the St. Louis Cardinals. Prior to joining NPR, Yuki started her career as a reporter for The Washington Post. She reported on stories mostly about business and technology, and later became an editor. Yuki grew up with a younger brother speaking her parents' native Japanese at home. She has a degree in history from Yale.NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Yuki NoguchiFri, 08 Sep 2017 12:29:28 +0000Yuki Noguchihttp://wkar.org
Yuki NoguchiJonathan Guffey has chiseled youthful looks and, at 32, does not have the haggard bearing of someone who's spent more than half his life hooked on opioids. That stint with the drug started at 15 and ended — he says for good — 22 months ago. He has a job working with his family in construction, but his work history is pockmarked by addiction. "I've worked in a couple of factories for a short amount of time, probably just long enough to get the first check to get high off of," Guffey says. I met Guffey at an event called Road to Redemption, a weekly free dinner and support meeting at a church in Muncie, Ind., for people in, or seeking, recovery. He says his habit was enabled by other users — family, friends, even a boss at a factory where he once worked. "There [were] plenty of times when I wouldn't go to work there, and my boss would call me and he wouldn't even say anything about work, he would just want more opiates...pills or whatever it was that I could get at the time," Guffey saysThe Powerful Pull Of Opioids Leaves Many 'Missing' From U.S. Workforcehttp://wkar.org/post/powerful-pull-opioids-leaves-many-missing-us-workforce
107351 as http://wkar.orgFri, 08 Sep 2017 11:19:00 +0000The Powerful Pull Of Opioids Leaves Many 'Missing' From U.S. WorkforceYuki NoguchiDriving down the main commercial artery in Muncie, Ind., it seems the job market is doing well. The local unemployment rate stands at 3.8 percent, and there are hiring signs posted outside the McDonald's, a pizza joint and at stop lights. Around 2007 — the last time the market was so tight — job applicants came streaming through the offices of Express Employment Professionals, a staffing agency that screens and places about 120 workers a month, mostly at the local manufacturing firms. "Even with the low unemployment rates that we had at that time, there were still plenty of applicants," says Express' owner, Nate Miller. "Now, we're down to that 3 to 4 percent unemployment throughout all of Indiana, but there's very few applicants, and the question is: Where did they go?" Where did they go ? That is a big question for economists from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on down. Nearly all working-age men ages 24 to 54 were in the labor force through the 1950s and '60s. Now that rate isOpioid Crisis Looms Over Job Market, Worrying Employers And Economistshttp://wkar.org/post/opioid-crisis-looms-over-job-market-worrying-employers-and-economists
107283 as http://wkar.orgThu, 07 Sep 2017 09:19:00 +0000Opioid Crisis Looms Over Job Market, Worrying Employers And EconomistsYuki NoguchiCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: The software engineer who wrote a leaked memo titled "Google's Ideological Echo Chamber" is out of a job at Google. The company quickly fired him after the memo criticizing the company's diversity efforts went viral over the weekend. The engineer, James Damore, told The New York Times he's considering legal action. NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports, the controversy raises complex questions about what employees can say at work. YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE: What a person can or cannot say in the workplace is governed by a thicket of laws. It is not the case that First Amendment free speech rights extend to private workplaces. Employers have broad leeway in setting rules, but there are exceptions. Labor laws protect workers' rights to share complaints about working conditions. At the same time, anti-discrimination laws require employers to protect against a hostile non-inclusive work environment. Damore's memo potentially touches on both. ItGoogle Memo Raises Questions About Limits Of Free Speech In The Workplacehttp://wkar.org/post/google-memo-raises-questions-about-limits-free-speech-workplace
105923 as http://wkar.orgTue, 08 Aug 2017 20:31:00 +0000Google Memo Raises Questions About Limits Of Free Speech In The WorkplaceYuki NoguchiCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: A Senate committee today approved two Trump administration nominees to fill vacant seats on the National Labor Relations Board. That means the stage is set now for a final confirmation vote. NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports that filling the vacancies will open the door to an unwinding of many of the previous administration's labor policies. YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE: Things have been pretty quiet at the federal Labor Relations Board with two vacant seats. But if President Trump's nominees, employment attorney William Emanuel and Marvin Kaplan, a federal agency lawyer, are confirmed, the board is expected to play a big role in advancing the Trump administration's labor policies. Speaking at today's hearing, Washington Democrat Patty Murray made that case. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) PATTY MURRAY: I will be voting no on both of these nominees. I urge my colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats, to join me in that and do whatFilling Labor Board Vacancies Opens Door To Unwinding Obama-era Policieshttp://wkar.org/post/filling-labor-board-vacancies-opens-door-unwinding-obama-era-policies
105293 as http://wkar.orgWed, 26 Jul 2017 21:00:00 +0000Filling Labor Board Vacancies Opens Door To Unwinding Obama-era PoliciesYuki NoguchiState legislatures and city halls are battling over who gets to set the minimum wage, and increasingly, the states are winning. After dozens of city and county governments voted to raise their local minimum wage ordinances in the last several years, states have been responding by passing laws requiring cities to abide by statewide minimums. So far, 27 states have passed such laws. The latest example of this is in Missouri, where a state law will take effect next month, rolling back St. Louis' $10-an-hour minimum wage ordinance passed earlier this year. That means thousands of minimum-wage earners in the city could go back to earning the state rate of $7.70 an hour . Janitorial worker Cynthia Sanders now has a longer commute into St. Louis, having moved further out because the cost of living was too high and she needed more space to raise her three grandchildren. When the Missouri state law takes effect, she says her wages will decrease and she'll have to cut back again. "I'm justAs Cities Raise Minimum Wages, Many States Are Rolling Them Backhttp://wkar.org/post/cities-raise-minimum-wages-many-states-are-rolling-them-back
104930 as http://wkar.orgTue, 18 Jul 2017 20:39:00 +0000As Cities Raise Minimum Wages, Many States Are Rolling Them BackYuki NoguchiMicromanagement is routinely the top complaint people have about their bosses, and in today's good job market where workers have more options, that's a bigger problem for employers. People might have their own definition of when a manager crosses into being too controlling, but most people would probably agree that Marjon Bell's former boss would fit. On her first day on a marketing job at a Virginia Beach, Va., insurance company, Bell's boss sent an email barring employees from bringing cellphones to the office. The email said that moms, especially, spent too much time on their phones checking up on their children. That, Bell says, was just one of her boss's many rules. "If we left campus for lunch, [we had] to email her when we left and email her when we got back," Bell says. Predictably, few people took lunch. The boss also monitored the instant messaging system, which displayed a green light when someone was logged in, and a yellow one after they had been idle. "Usually you hadIs Your Boss Too Controlling? Many Employees Clash With Micromanagershttp://wkar.org/post/your-boss-too-controlling-many-employees-clash-micromanagers
104870 as http://wkar.orgMon, 17 Jul 2017 23:30:00 +0000Is Your Boss Too Controlling? Many Employees Clash With MicromanagersYuki NoguchiCarol McDaniel has a perennial challenge: Attracting highly specialized acute-care certified neonatal nurse practitioners to come work for Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla. They are "always in short supply, high demand, and [it is a] very, very small group of people," says McDaniel, the hospital's recruitment director. So, about six months ago, McDaniel says, the hospital started using a new recruitment tactic: It buys lists of potential candidates culled from online profiles or educational records. It then uses a technology to set up a wireless fence around key areas where the coveted nurses live or work. When a nurse with the relevant credentials enters a geofenced zone, ads inviting them to apply to All Children's appear on their phones. The system also automatically collects data from the user's cellphone so it can continue to advertise to them, even after they leave the geofenced area. The result? She's getting responses from three to four jobRecruiters Use 'Geofencing' To Target Potential Hires Where They Live And Workhttp://wkar.org/post/recruiters-use-geofencing-target-potential-hires-where-they-live-and-work
104417 as http://wkar.orgFri, 07 Jul 2017 20:56:00 +0000Recruiters Use 'Geofencing' To Target Potential Hires Where They Live And WorkYuki NoguchiThe list of perks Dan Teran's company offers sounds pretty dreamy. Anyone working 120 hours a month gets employer-sponsored medical, dental and vision insurance. His company, Managed by Q, also offers a matching 401(k) retirement program, paid time off, a stock option program for all employees, and 12 weeks of paid parental leave. Those are highly unusual perks, considering most are part-time workers who work only when they're available. Also, Teran's company does janitorial, building maintenance and temporary secretarial work, where such benefits are almost unheard of. But, Teran says, he didn't want to run a business with the kind of very high client and employee turnover that can run as high as 400 percent in his industries. "In order to deliver the best service we need the best people, and to attract and retain the best people we need to be the best employer," he says. A growing number of Americans rely on gigs for income — driving a car, writing bits of code, or doing tasks forEfforts Increase To Bring Health And Other Benefits To Independent Workershttp://wkar.org/post/efforts-increase-bring-health-and-other-benefits-independent-workers
103710 as http://wkar.orgFri, 23 Jun 2017 16:11:00 +0000Efforts Increase To Bring Health And Other Benefits To Independent WorkersYuki NoguchiWhen I started my career at The Washington Post in the late 1990s, the newsroom wore a dusty, outdated look as if it were paying homage to its legendary past. The Post of today occupies an updated building on D.C.'s renowned K Street, in modern, glass-walled offices with a Silicon Valley aesthetic. This is the Post after Jeff Bezos, the Amazon CEO and e-commerce visionary, bought it in 2013 . Since then, the paper's business and technology has almost outshone its award-winning journalism. Before Bezos, the Post was losing revenue and its losses were widening, as it struggled to find income to replace its decline in print ads. The Post is now privately owned and doesn't discuss specific figures, but says revenue and profits are up, as subscribers grow and digital ad revenue increases . Its monthly Web traffic has grown 56 percent, to 78.7 million over the past two years, according to ComScore. That reflects its journalism, but it also reflects big changes under the hood. Under Bezos,At 'Washington Post,' Tech Is Increasingly Boosting Financial Performancehttp://wkar.org/post/washington-post-tech-increasingly-boosting-financial-performance
103153 as http://wkar.orgTue, 13 Jun 2017 11:43:00 +0000At 'Washington Post,' Tech Is Increasingly Boosting Financial PerformanceYuki NoguchiRide-hailing firm Uber has fired about 20 of its employees, including some senior executives, after an investigation into more than 200 sexual harassment and other workplace-misconduct claims. The company is not commenting on the findings of the report from Perkins Coie, which was hired after former Uber engineer Susan Fowler last year alleged that she was sexually harassed, and her complaints disregarded by the company's human resources department. On Tuesday, the San Francisco company held an all-hands meeting for its 12,000 employees, where it discussed those findings and, according to a source familiar with the meeting, 40 additional employees were reprimanded or referred to counseling and training. Uber set up a hotline where employees and former employees could file complaints. The findings from the investigation will feed into a second, broader report from former Attorney General Eric Holder due out next Tuesday, which will include more detailed recommendations for how UberUber Fires 20 Employees After Sexual Harassment Claim Investigationhttp://wkar.org/post/uber-fires-20-employees-after-sexual-harassment-claim-investigation
102841 as http://wkar.orgTue, 06 Jun 2017 22:57:00 +0000Uber Fires 20 Employees After Sexual Harassment Claim InvestigationYuki NoguchiCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit KELLY MCEVERS, HOST: Uber is trying to change what some critics have called a bad corporate culture that is tolerant of sexual harassment and other misconduct. Today, the San Francisco company told its staff that about 20 employees have been fired as part of an investigation. NPR's Yuki Noguchi is with us to talk about this. And you can just remind us how this all started. YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE: The investigations began after a former Uber software engineer last year wrote on her blog about her experience being sexually harassed and detailing her complaints - how her complaints went unheeded. And that post went viral. In response, Uber hired two teams of lawyers to conduct two investigations. The findings from the first one today will feed into a second broader report from former Attorney General Eric Holder due out next week. MCEVERS: What did this first investigation find? NOGUCHI: The company isn't commenting. But according to a source familiarUber Fires 20 Employees After Internal Investigation Into Sexual Harassmenthttp://wkar.org/post/uber-fires-20-employees-after-internal-investigation-sexual-harassment
102840 as http://wkar.orgTue, 06 Jun 2017 22:14:00 +0000Uber Fires 20 Employees After Internal Investigation Into Sexual HarassmentYuki NoguchiThis year, 25 states and the District of Columbia are considering measures that would bar employers from asking job candidates about their prior salary. Last year, two states — California and Massachusetts — adopted similar policies, aimed at trying to narrow the pay gap for women and minorities. Such measures are designed to help people like Aileen Rizo. She was four years into her job as a math teaching consultant for Fresno County, Calif., when she found out, in 2012, that a new male hire with less education and experience was offered a salary roughly 20 percent more than she was making. Rizo was stunned. "I kind of knew that I had broken stereotypes, as a mathematician, and as the only full-time woman in that department," as well as being a Latina minority, she says. "But then to find out that you're getting paid less than all of your male counterparts — that they all started much higher salary steps then you did — is just ... devastating." Rizo complained to human resources,Proposals Aim To Combat Discrimination Based On Salary Historyhttp://wkar.org/post/proposals-aim-combat-discrimination-based-salary-history
102463 as http://wkar.orgTue, 30 May 2017 16:08:00 +0000Proposals Aim To Combat Discrimination Based On Salary HistoryYuki NoguchiPresident Trump's proposed budget released Tuesday rests on a key assumption: The economy will grow much faster than it has in recent years — and at a more robust pace than most analysts predict. Trump's proposal for fiscal 2018 will seek to balance the federal budget over the next decade by making deep cuts to safety-net programs such as Medicaid, food assistance and disability benefits, and by trying to goose economic growth through deregulation and tax cuts. Those policy proposals already face opposition, even from some members of the Republican Party. One of the overarching debates, however, has to do with underlying economic assumptions made in the budget, which are also coming in for heavy criticism. The proposal promises to close the budget deficit by 2027 by cutting federal spending by $3.6 trillion overall, but it does so by assuming an economic growth rate that is much higher than what the Congressional Budget Office projects it will be. The administration sees roughly $550Trump Budget Plan Relies On Optimistic Growth Assumptions, Analysts Sayhttp://wkar.org/post/trump-budget-plan-relies-optimistic-growth-assumptions-analysts-say
102193 as http://wkar.orgTue, 23 May 2017 20:23:00 +0000Trump Budget Plan Relies On Optimistic Growth Assumptions, Analysts SayYuki NoguchiHarry Friedman has run a consultancy training entry-level retail workers in customer service and other basics for 35 years. But in all his years, he has not retrained retail workers for new skills. "Nope; we do none of it," he says. "I don't know that anybody does any of it." Many retail workers are undergoing what economists call "job displacement," meaning they are losing their jobs largely because of major technological shifts. Layoffs in traditional retail have accelerated sharply this year, with hundreds of store closings and nine U.S. chains filing for bankruptcy so far in 2017. Most of those losing their jobs are low-skilled, entry-level workers, while retailers look instead to bolster the e-commerce sides of their businesses, hiring for higher-skilled positions such as logistics and warehousing. Whereas some industries invest to retrain their workers with new skills for new times, to date the retail industry has not successfully done that. Friedman says that is not good newsAs Store Layoffs Mount, Retail Lags Other Sectors In Retraining Workershttp://wkar.org/post/store-layoffs-mount-retail-lags-other-sectors-retraining-workers
102156 as http://wkar.orgTue, 23 May 2017 10:01:00 +0000As Store Layoffs Mount, Retail Lags Other Sectors In Retraining WorkersYuki NoguchiDow Industrials Drop On Worries Over Political Turmoil In Washingtonhttp://wkar.org/post/dow-industrials-drop-worries-over-political-turmoil-washington
101910 as http://wkar.orgWed, 17 May 2017 23:27:00 +0000Dow Industrials Drop On Worries Over Political Turmoil In WashingtonYuki NoguchiNearly three-quarters of private sector workers receive paid sick days from their employers, though there is no federal mandate requiring it. In recent years, dozens of states, cities and counties have passed their own ordinances , which typically require employers to provide between three and seven paid sick days a year. The business community is fighting against the proliferation of these laws, saying that the landscape for paid-leave regulation is getting way too complex. It's a large administrative headache, says Lisa Horn , director of congressional affairs for the Society for Human Resource Management. "Mainly because of this hodgepodge, or patchwork, of a growing number of states and localities implementing ... paid-sick-leave mandates," she says. So Horn says her group, along with other business groups, is helping draft a Republican proposal in the House of Representatives. The terms aren't finalized, but Horn says the basic idea would be to set a floor for the amount of paidBusinesses Push Back On Paid-Sick-Leave Lawshttp://wkar.org/post/businesses-push-back-paid-sick-leave-laws
101336 as http://wkar.orgSat, 06 May 2017 11:15:00 +0000Businesses Push Back On Paid-Sick-Leave LawsYuki NoguchiWith unemployment low and economic growth expected to bounce back from a slow first quarter , consumers are not in bad shape. But it has been an especially terrible year so far for retailers. Nine U.S. chains have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Store closures are accelerating, and almost 90,000 retail workers have lost their jobs since October. Experts say the industry's troubles are just beginning. "The disruption is just unfolding," says Mark Cohen, a former CEO of Sears Canada who now directs retail studies at Columbia Business School. "I think the number of store closings will continue at an accelerated pace right through this year into next year." It's not that consumers are being more cautious. Spending is up, but most of that growth is online. Traditional brick-and-mortar stores are grappling with intense transformation of their business to be more Web-based and trying to reconcile their old business model with one in which profit margins are thinner. Cohen saysRetailers Scrambling To Adjust To Changing Consumer Habitshttp://wkar.org/post/rapid-shakeup-retailers-consumer-habits-change
101146 as http://wkar.orgTue, 02 May 2017 21:03:00 +0000Retailers Scrambling To Adjust To Changing Consumer HabitsYuki NoguchiFox News star Bill O'Reilly has been ousted from the network after fresh allegations of sexual harassment surfaced last month, and the TV franchise again faces scrutiny over whether its culture perpetuates such behavior. Fox already ousted its CEO, Roger Ailes, over claims of sexual harassment, and The New York Times reported the network has already paid out $13 million to settle five claims against O'Reilly since 2002. Fox isn't alone; allegations of pervasive sexual harassment also recently surfaced at Uber and at Sterling Jewelers, which owns the Kay, Jared and Zales chains. Uber hired former Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate claims that its culture permitted sexual harassment. Sterling's parent company says the allegations against it are without merit. Experts say rooting out a culture of sexual harassment is a big challenge but can be done if handled correctly. Jeff Owens, a longtime human resources manager, has dealt with a number of sexual harassment claims over hisFox News Turmoil Highlights Workplace Culture's Role In Sexual Harassmenthttp://wkar.org/post/fox-news-turmoil-highlights-workplace-cultures-role-sexual-harassment
100561 as http://wkar.orgWed, 19 Apr 2017 21:42:00 +0000Fox News Turmoil Highlights Workplace Culture's Role In Sexual HarassmentYuki Noguchihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSafHgzFpGs AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka laid out his vision for organized labor Tuesday, taking on both political parties for catering to moneyed interests instead of focusing on the plight of American workers — the hallmark of the presidential campaign. "Republicans, and too many Democrats, have rigged our economy to enrich a select few," the union chief told an audience at the National Press Club. "Give every worker out there the right to bargain with their employer for better wages, better working conditions whether you have a union or not," he said. Trumka's cautionary messages about allowing corporations to enrich themselves at the expense of workers, and the dangers of deregulation struck a familiar theme for unions. But the speech was also notable for the way it veered from traditional party politics, calling attention to a growing rift in the once-solid relationship between unions and the Democratic Party. "We'll stand up to the corporateAFL-CIO's Trumka Says Both Parties Have Lost Focus On U.S. Workershttp://wkar.org/post/afl-cios-trumka-says-both-parties-have-lost-focus-us-workers
99877 as http://wkar.orgTue, 04 Apr 2017 21:06:00 +0000AFL-CIO's Trumka Says Both Parties Have Lost Focus On U.S. WorkersYuki NoguchiAn accident last month in Tempe, Ariz., involving a self-driving Uber car highlighted some novel new issues regarding fault and liability that experts say will come up more often as autonomous vehicles hit the road. And that will have an increasing impact on an insurance industry that so far has no road map for how to deal with the new technologies. Billionaire investor Warren Buffett, whose company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns the insurance giant Geico, told CNBC in a February interview: "If the day comes when a significant portion of the cars on the road are autonomous, it will hurt Geico's business very significantly." That would seem to make sense. If humans aren't driving the cars, who needs a car insurance policy? "It's certainly a topic of heavy conversation right now," says Rick Gorvett, staff actuary for the Casualty Actuarial Society, a trade group for people who analyze risk for insurance firms. Right now, insurance rates are calculated mostly based on attributes of drivers —Self-Driving Cars Raise Questions About Who Carries Insurancehttp://wkar.org/post/self-driving-cars-raise-questions-about-who-carries-insurance
99785 as http://wkar.orgMon, 03 Apr 2017 08:23:00 +0000Self-Driving Cars Raise Questions About Who Carries Insurance